Helpful Hints

DEAR HELOISE: I'd like to have a recipe for lunch -- something very tasty that won't make me feel stuffed. I work from home and live alone, so I need a recipe for one, and these are hard to find.

-- Melody F., Vista, Calif.

DEAR READER: Melody, here is one of my all-time favorite light lunches. It's filling without making you feel heavy or sleepy. It's also in my book In the Kitchen With Heloise:

Heloise's Stuffed Avocado With Crabmeat

1/2 avocado

31/2 ounces crabmeat

1 tablespoon Romano cheese

1 tablespoon breadcrumbs, plus extra for topping

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1 pat of butter

Chopped green onion (tops included)

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Remove the pit from the avocado. Cut a thin slice from the bottom of the avocado so that it will sit firmly on a plate. Mix the crabmeat, cheese, breadcrumbs and parsley. Fill the hollow of the avocado with the mixture, piling it into a rounded peak but keeping it within the outside shell. Sprinkle with some of the extra breadcrumbs, and top with the butter. Place on a sheet of foil and bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped onions before serving.

DEAR HELOISE: If you purchase fancier or organic peanut butters, you've probably noticed that the oil is often separated at the top of the jar. One way to solve this problem is to put the open jar of peanut butter into the microwave for a minute. This will soften the peanut butter and allow you to stir the oil into it.

-- Robert B., via email

DEAR HELOISE: My table salt containers often become blocked by the table salt forming clumps. I transferred the clumped salt into a gallon-size plastic bag. Then I used a meat mallet to pound the salt into granular form, and after that I transferred the salt back into its container.

-- Mark B., via email

DEAR READER: You can use a few grains of rice in a saltshaker to prevent it from clumping.

DEAR HELOISE: My home economics teacher taught us to take everything we'll need to prepare a meal or snack out of the refrigerator at once. This minimizes the amount of cold air going out and warm air going in.